..."what? Baby?"
"Don't you know that she's pregnant?" Dr Liliana carefully asked and Muslim slowly shook his head. "Well, congratulations. Your wife is six weeks pregnant. There are some guidelines for the both of you which I'll hand over in written form to you before she gets discharged soon."
"Okay, Thank you." He stuttered and ambled out of the office. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad about what he heard as he went to Jasmine's room with mixed emotions.
When he entered, Nooria gave him space to see his wife. He sat on the chair Nooria stood up from to perform ablution beside her bed and sat down. Sa'eeda was praying together with Fatima while Aisha sat on the only sofa in the room. "How are you feeling?" He asked with a smile as he took her hand in his.
"I'm fine." She whispered and smiled too. A tear escaped her eye and rolled down the side of her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered again and he wiped the tear with his thumb.
"Sorry for?" His voice was breaking. She just smiled at him, the smile that had indecipherable emotions.
"Your face shows different emotions. Are you okay?" She inquired and that melted his heart.
"I don't know." He was looking at her, not even blinking. "I don't know how to tell you. The fact that I didn't expect it and that I'm not ready for it even though I'm fine with whatever Allah sends our way weakens my nerves Jasmine. Can we do it? I feel we're not strong enough." He voiced while tears were welling up in his eyes.
"What are you talking about? Did they insist we divorce?" She whispered.
"Not at all. The issue is..." He got interpolated.
"Why are you whispering? If you don't want us to hear you can wait until you reach home. I hope you get discharged soon." Fatima said, folding the mat they prayed on, directing her last part to Jasmine.
There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in. "The medical reports." She said, giving the papers to Muslim. He thanked her and she went out.
"I'll go and pray, make sure you eat. We'll go home after I'm back." He said aloud so that they could all hear him and dropped the report on the table beside the bed. He was indirectly telling them to take care of her before his return.
When he went out, Fatima brought out the potato porridge they bought from a nearby restaurant.
Sa'eeda cleared her throat and sang, "This love me I never see before," referring to Muslim and Jasmine.
After Fatima fed her daughter-in-law while the rest chitchatted, Sa'eeda packed the few items they brought with them as ordered by Nooria.
"Where's the report the nurse gave Muslim?" Jasmine asked no one in particular.
"He kept it on that table." Aisha answered. Jasmine picked it up and started going through it. She was just looking at the papers without reading anything as her eyes caught a glimpse of some words which she didn't pay heed to. She kept the papers and closed her eyes to relax her mind.
"Wait, what?" She said to herself and picked the papers again. She saw that something was positive. Could it be that I have a deadly disease? What Muslim was saying earlier said it all, Jasmine thought as she carefully looked through the papers searching for the word ‘positive’.
When her eyes landed on the word, she checked and she saw ‘P-test’ on it. He eyes widened to their largest size.
"Oh. My. God." She slowly said and Nooria looked up at her.
"What's the matter?" She asked. At that point, Jasmine didn't know whether or not to hide it from her.
"Nothing mummy, just that I'm so happy that I'm fine." She said with a sheepish smile. "According to the reports," she added.
